East Fairmont Junior High’s Dixie L. Redmond Earns Arch Coal Teacher Achievement Award

Charleston − “As early as seventh grade, I realized that I wanted to become a teacher, a teacher of science,” says Dixie L. Redmond, a seventh- and eighth-grade coordinated and thematic science teacher at East Fairmont Junior High School.

Today, Redmond, who has been a science teacher for 24 years, was named one of 10 Arch Coal, Inc. Teacher Achievement Award recipients for 2001.

In making the announcement, Arch Coal President and Chief Executive Officer Steven F. Leer presented Redmond with a $2,500 award. Also on hand to honor her were Governor Bob Wise, Superintendent of Schools Dr. David Stewart, and West Virginia Education Association President Tom Lange.

“I set high expectations for my students. My classroom is oriented toward the goal of striving to reach all students’ expectations, regardless of their abilities or learning styles,” says Redmond. “I encourage student questioning. In my classroom, there is no such thing as a ‘dumb question’ or a ‘wrong answer.’ Each question and answer is treated with respect, as are the students who presents them.”

Redmond believes “cooperation, interaction and communication” are necessary skills in today’s society and that “teaching is gathering, processing, applying and sustaining” these skills in the classroom and applying them to everyday situations.

“Whatever the concept being studied in Mrs. Redmond’s classroom, her students always benefit from her wealth of knowledge, not only science content, but relative to the world around us,” adds Sue Clevenger, a mathematics teacher and colleague. “She makes the lessons applicable to real-life situations, which seems to make her students want to work harder to learn more.”

Another colleague, Sue Bock, says, “Having been privileged to work with Mrs. Redmond for the past 20 years, I have observed her positive approach with students. I respect her classroom management skills and recognize that her students are learning because she relates to them so well.”

Redmond also receives high praise from Tammy Hunnell, a parent of two daughters who have had Redmond as their teacher. “My daughters have come home excited about an activity they did that day in science class. When my daughters get excited about something they did at school, I get excited. It is easy to see that Mrs. Redmond has a special gift for teaching science and making her students want to learn,” she says.

Redmond holds a Bachelor of Education degree and a Master of Arts Degree in Specific Learning Disabilities from West Virginia University.

Arch Coal in the nation’s second largest coal producer. Arch employs about 2,000 people in West Virginia. Arch Coal is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: ACI) and makes its corporate headquarters in St., Louis, Mo.